Humidifier



. Dec. 22, E931. R. G. YosT ET AL 1,837,936

HUMIDIFIER Filed April 27, 1951 z sheets-sheet 1 Dec. 22, 1931. R. G.YosT ET Al. 1,837,936

HUMIDIFIER Filed April 27, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 patented ec. 2.2, 1931ffii:- S

TENT oFFiE ROBmT G. YOST AND 'CYRIL G. LY, OF WEBSTER GROVES, MISSOURIUMIDEIER Application filed April 27,

This invention relates to humidifiers, and with regard to certain morespecific features, to humidifiers for domestic and analogous uses.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision ofa humidifier which when artificial heat is used fully supplies theamount of moisture required in the atmosphere of at least part of aphomeor building or the like having compartments, or rooms; the provision ofa device of the class described which is self regulating as to amount ofmoisture hyg'roscopically supplied, the same being operated inconnection with the heating plant so that increased dryness caused by anincreased rate of heating is automatically compensated; the provision ofa device of this class which is automatically fed, being connected withthe domestic water supply; and the provision of a device of the classdescribed which provides such features at greatly reduced costs, ascompared with present day, less satisfactory devices. Other objects willbe in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations ofelements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which willbe exemplified in the structure hereinafter described, 'and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated one of variouspossible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating the elements of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3 illustratinga furnace heating coil;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4 4 of Figs. 1 and 5,illustrating an evaporator; and,

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

1931. Serial No. 533,122.

od of admixing is not desirable because of the requirement for movingparts which wear and are noisy and expensive. Mere heating is notdesirable because of condensation difculties and possible visibility ofvapor.

The present humidifier provides a greater evaporation area at minimumexpense and at the same time increased evaporation, this being effectedby preheating the water without raising its temperature excessively.

Combined with this is the fact that the heating is effected by theheating-system already available in every home and with regard to whichthe present device compensates automatically in a simple fashion. Thewater heating system of the present invention, although being associatedwith said home heating system, is entirely separated from the ordinaryhot water heating circuit. This means that the ordinary heatingcirculation is notinterfered with or tapped, nor is brackish water usedin they humidifier and, furthermore, this makes the device applicable,so far as its heating elements are concerned, to warm air heatingsystems as well as vapor and hot water systems.

Referring now mdre particularly to Fig. 1, there is illustrated atnumeral 1 a humidifying unit per se, adapted to be placed in a room orhall or the like of a dwelllng or the like. At numeral 3 is illustratedthe ordinary heating plant of said dwelling and may comprise a warm air,vapor, or water system. The usual convection means are employed fordelivering heat from the fur-- nace 3 to the apartment, such as warm airducts, steam or water pipes. These are not illustrated because they varywith the type of heating installation. The present humidifying system isentirely independent of said ducts, both as to heating the water anddelivery of moisture to the compartment and in this respect, as Well asothers, constitutes an improvement. At numeral 5 1s shown one of thewater pipes of the domestic water system of said dwelling.

Figs. 4 and 5 detail the humidif'ying unit per se, the same comprisingan outer, decoratively perforated and semi-circular, sheet steel shield7. The perforations 9 serve not only decorative purposes but permit ofcirculation from inside to outside of the device of humidified air, theshield 7 being opened at the bottom as designated by numeral 11. Theshield 7 is closed at the rear by a nonreticulated back wall 13 and issupported upon standards 15 spacing the same away from the floor level17. Itwill be seen that the back 13 is adapted to be placed against aWall 19 or the like. Baflies 16 prevent wall discolorationand/orcondensation at or near the rear corners of the device. They alsoprevent the sight of any vapor which may be generated. A decorative andremovable cover 21 is provided to close the top of the shield 7. Thiscover is preferably non-reticulated.

Joining the shield 7 and the back 13 1s a pair of partitions 23, thesame having an oppositely disposed series of openings 25. The pluralityof openings are'adapted to slidably receive a plurality of upwardlyflared noncorroding pans 27, such as of aluminum or copper. An inletpipe 29 is vertically' arranged behind the pans and provided withoutlets 31 and 33 comprising stop cocks which are manually operable. The.cocks may be turned full on or full o or to intermediate positions, soas to regulate the amount of waterissuing from the pipe 29. 1 Each pan27 is provided with an overflow pipe 35 which maintains the level 37 inthe respective pan and also delivers overflow to the next pan beneath.The lower outlet of the overflow pipe 35 extends below the liquid level37 in the said next pan thus effecting quiet flow.` The last overflowpipe 39 delivers water to waste.

It is clear from the above that each pan 27, considered structurally isquite independent of the other pan in the cascaded combination.` Thus,any number of pans may be used, a full complement of eight pans beingshown in Fig. 5, but a lesser number may be used in the same supports23. The reason for making the number of pans variable is to provide avariation in the amount,

of evaporating surface so that the device lmay b e adapted to structuresor buildings of various sizes and /or humidifying requirements.

Water entering the pipe 29 flows out of the cock 31 and enters theuppermost pan 27 from whence it overiows and is delivered to the secondpan below and thus proceeds from pan to pan until the' overflow 39 isreached. The purpose of the second cock 33 is to provide a second supplyof warm water (the water from pipe 29 is warm, as will be seen) so as toreheat the Cascade of water flowing through the series of pans. It willbe understood that the water cools as it flows down and that the rate ofevaporation decreases lwith cooling. Hence it is desirable to provide inthe cascade a reheating, as by the supply of warm water from the secondcock 33. This method of introducing the water is in contradistinction tointroducing at one point all of the warm water it is desired to supply.

Another feature regarding the pans should be noted. This is thepositioning of the overflow pipe 35 in staggered relationship withrespect to the ends of the successive pans. The overflow pipe 35 betweena given pair of pans is in a corner of said pair diagonallylopposite tothe overfiow pipe of the next pair. Thus, reading from top to bottom (Fig. 5) the uppermost pan and the second one down have an overfiow pipe35 in a given corner. The second pan down and the third pan down have anoverflow pipe in the diagonally opposite corner and so on down throughthe device. The purpose of this arrangement is to provide as great adistance of tlow as possible for the water so that there is no shortcircuiting in said flow. This ensures a minimum of stagnation andmaximum distance of circulation, both of which are conducive to maximumevaporation. The positions of the inlets and outlet relative to theoverflows are also conducive to this effect. It will be undersood thatthe rate of inlet of the water from the cocks 31 and 33 is made enoughso that there is a continual overflow from the pipe 39 at all times. Thecocks 31 and 33 are adjusted so that the rate of overflow is a minimumconsistent with sufiicient humidity.

Heating of the water supply is accomplished by leading the pipe 29 intoa heating flue 40 ofthe domestic heating plant 3 (Figs. 2 and 3). Herethepipe 29 is formed as a coil 41 after which it is again brought out ofthe flue 39 and attached to the domestic cold water pipe 5 by means ofaconnection such as shown at numeral 43'. Thus the water issuing fromthe pipe 5 passes through the direct heat exchange coil 41, up the pipe29, through the cocks 31, 33, to and through the pans 27 and thenthrough the drain 39 to Waste 45. The amount of waste is equal to thesupply minus the amount of water evaporated for humidifying purposes.

It is to be understood that a direct heat exchange relationship refersto the passage of heat from the iue gases of the furnace to water to becascaded or exposed without passage through any other heating mediumsuch as the hot air or hot water or the like of the househeating systemper se.

rlhe coil 41 is mounted upon a rack 47 and spaced away from the bottomof the lue 39 by means o a jack screw 49. This prevents the coil frombecoming coated with deposits such as 51 which ordinarily lie on thebottom of due 40. As shown in Figs. 2and 3, the coil 41 may be slippedthrough a cleanout door 53 or the like, thus facilitatingv itsinstallation and cleaning. llt will be understood that hot water fromthe heating coil used for hot water consumption may be used for thepresent system, this supply also being independent of the fluid forheating the house.

As is clear from the drawings, the invention is carried out with amaximum of simplicity and at minimum costs. rlhe members forming theshields 7, back 13, supports 2 3 and the like may all be made of sheetmetal whichis readily formed. The same is true of the pans 27.Furthermore, the pans may be assembled, one above the other, merely bysliding them through the openings as above stated, any number may beused to accommodate the humidification desired in a given size of house.Illhe pipes such as 29 and 39 are small, flexible, being composedpreferably of copper tubing or the like. Stringing of the pipe is easilyaccomplished, all bents being readily made by hand. rEhe elements shownin Figsfd and 5 ma be installed with the simplest of tools andinstallation of the piping may be accomplished analogously to electricalwiring. No tap need be made into the circulating liuid of the househeating system. No auxiliary heater is required. No moving parts. areused.

Another advantage of the deviced is that three variables may becontrolled. First, the rate of iow of water from the cocks 31, 33 maybe'controlled. ln this connection.A it

. may be noted that the length of coil 4.1 may' be changed to etiectproper heating at the changed rate of flow. ,Se'cond, the amount of vevaporating surface may be controlled by choice of a number of pans 27.Athird ad` justment comes in the relationship of the opening in cocks 31and 33.

Another advantage in regard to operation is that once the device hasbeen adjusted the humidity is taken care of automatically. Or-

dinarily, as the rateof operation of the fur- .nace 3 is increased andhouse heatlincreases,

the humidity ordinarily is also decreased, that is to say, t e humiditydecreases somewhat inversely with the heating rate. With the :presentinvention an increased heating rate ef a house, caused by increasedheatlng rate of the furnace 3, results in increased heating rate of thewater supplied through inlet pipe 29. This water at a higher temperatureevaporates at a faster rate so that the increased Ldryness iscompensated for, and an approximately given adjustment of humidity atthe most desirable point varying therefrom lonly a few per cent over awhole heating season. |The device may be adjusted to provide a humidityin the ideal range, namely, forty to fifty per cent or more. Humidity isprovided for the whole home or building or the like in which the deviceis located, even though the device is positioned in a single room orhall or the like.

The apparatus is quite small, the cascading through a successionofsurface or sheetexposures aiding this result. The semi-circular plan lofthe shield 7 results in minimum space requirement with the advantagethat in combination with the partitions 23 and baiiles 16, ues areformed which e'iect with the Warm cascade a natural induced up draftsuch as sho-wn by the arrows in Fig. 5. r1`his draft, in view of theclosed cover 21 is forced out of the opening 9, the baiiies 16preventing condensation on the adjacent Wall.

j The device uses'a continuous low of water at a predeterminedadjustable rate. A recommendation for an eightroom house is aboutone-quarter pint of water per minute maximum, this amounting to aboutfifty gallons for a twenty-four hour period.

It will be understood that the heating unit 3 may stand in the same roomor compartment as the humidifier 1, as when room or apartment heatersare used, the connections being as described above. Also, it will benoted that the evaporation is direct from the pans to the air to behumidified and is independent of convection through any heating flues orthe like of the furnace.

'In view lof the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructionswithout departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended thatall matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

e claim:

l. Humidifying apparatus comprising a semi-circular, reticulated shield,at least one partition therein separating the interior into ay pluralityof flues, said partition having openings, a plurality of pans supportedin said openings and spaced from the shield, and means for cascadingwarm water through said pans whereby humidilication is eiiected anddistribution of said humidiication ,is effected by an induced draft insaid iiues and through said reticulations.

2. Humidifying apparatus comprising means for mounting a plurality of pans, one

4. A humidifier for at least one compaltment of a building, the latter'having a heatin@ lant and cold water supply, comprise P v ing means forexposing and evaporating Water within said building, the passage ofevaporated vapor from the point of exposure being independent of anyconvective heating by said heating plant, means for leading Water fromsaid cold Water supply to the compartment, means for leading water fromlthe cold water supply to' the evaporating means and means in saidheating plant for heating said Water prior to evaporating the same, saidheating means in the heating plant' being independent of the fluid used1n said plant for heating said house, said evaporating means beinglocated outside of said heating' plant. l

In testimony whereof. We have signed our names to this specificationthis 25th day of April, 1931.

ROBERT G. YOST. CYRIL G. SCHELLY.

point of exposure, and means in direct heat exchange relationship withthe 'products of combustion of said heating plant for heating said Waterprior to exposing the same.

5. A humidifier for at least one compartment of a building, the latterhaving a heating plant and cold water supply, comprising means forcascading Water through successive sheets Within said building, thepassage of evaporated vapor from the point of cascading beingindependent of any convective .heating by said heating plant, means forleading Water from said cold Water supply to-the point of cascading andmeans insaid heating plant for heating said water prior to cascading ofthe same.

6. A humidifier for a house having a heating plant and cold Water supplycomprising means for cascading water within said house, means forleading water from said cold water supply to the cascade and means insaid heating plant for heating said water prior to cascading of thesame, and means for introducing heated Water to said cascade at aplurality of points therein.

7. A humidifier for a compartmented building having a plant in onecompartment for the purpose of heating the building and said buildinghaving a cold water supply, comprising means for evaporating WaterWithin said building but in another compartment therein, means forleading Water from the cold water supply to the evaporating means andmeans in said heating plant for heating said Water prior to evaporatingthe same, said-.'evaporating means being lo'- cated outside o f and at asubstantial distance from said heating plant.

8. A humidifier for a compartmented building having in one compartment aplant t for the purpose of heating the building and said building havinga cold water supply, comprising means for evaporating water by sheetex'posure within said house 1n another

